The 60-year-old filmmaker was granted an honorary plaque during a ceremony held at Sa'ad Abad Historical and Cultural Complex to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) daughter, Fatemeh (PBUH), which is celebrated in Iran as Mother's Day.

Derakhshandeh thanked Iran's Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini saying “I am happy that we could gather here on such a beautiful day.”

“Cinema has never been a job for me and I will quit being a filmmaker the moment that I start regarding it a source of income,” she added saying “I love cinema and believe movie theaters are where people can see love.”

Derakhshandeh was honored for her life-long cinematic activities and efforts to reveal the true identity of Muslim Iranian women, Fars News Agency reported.

“My films are about those who have been forgotten,” she said. “Family and children have always been the central themes of my films and I expect the ministry to help me financing my independent projects.”

Iranian director, producer, screen writer and researcher, Pouran Derakhshandeh graduated in film directing from Tehran's School of Television and Cinema in 1975.

Relationship (1986), A Little Bit of Happiness (1987), Passing Through the Dust (1988), Lost Time (1989), Love Without Border (1998), A Candle in the Wind (2003), Wet Dream (2005) and Eternal Children (2006) are among her better-known films.